These two years of war have changed us all. Throughout it all, we never forgot why this war started and why it continued: we never forgot our hostages.
We celebrate welcoming home our remaining hostages in the initial 72 hours of the ceasefire to their families and loved ones. We celebrate and welcome this ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that may allow over 2 million Palestinians in Gaza to receive aid and begin to rebuild their homes, their families, and their lives. Yet our happiness is also tempered with mourning for those who did not survive and are returned to their final rest.
Now we take time to reflect. Throughout the conflict we, as Jewish Democrats, have been navigating the hard conversations surrounding the events of this war. We’ve all individually taken time out of our lives to have difficult talks with family, friends, acquaintances, random people on the Internet, and within our community.
We’ve witnessed horrific attacks pointed at Jews for being Jewish in the name of protesting the conflict. We’ve dealt with extreme resolutions in our federal, state, and local political organizations and governments. We’ve been labeled as supporters of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and Islamophobia.
Despite this litany of abuse and attacks, we know that we cannot walk away from our work. If anything, it reaffirms the need to stand up tall as proud Jewish Democrats and put in the hard work.
The challenging question we face today is how do we recognize Donald Trump’s role (small or large, timely or delayed) in fomenting the hostage release at a time where he and his administration are taking actions here at home that we find abhorrent? As children are being zip-tied when ICE invades their homes, key government programs are being slashed, and our health insurance costs are skyrocketing, how do we reconcile the list of horribles with an action that has resulted in the incredible goodness of the hostage release?
Our liturgy does not contemplate the idea that one good deed erases a bad one. On Yom Kippur we atone for all of our sins, both small and large. We can be joyful at the hostages’ release, thankful that the families of the dead may bury them, and still stand for our principles in opposition to the current actions of our government.
As Jewish Democrats we must stick to our commitment to our core tenets. Equality, safety, justice, community, free speech, and democracy are all things that we cannot take for granted. Now that the shooting has stopped we must repair the relationships strained by this conflict. Our caucus has done some of this work already. We’ve worked together to call for the release of humanitarian aid into Gaza. We’ve communicated to our fellow Jewish community members regarding defining antisemitism. We’ve worked with community members and groups, nationally and locally, on potential partnerships that will let our voices be amplified and heard. We’ve made our presence known and accessible in multiple media platforms. We’ve started and continued conversations with other partners in our party.
Our work is not over. As Rabbi Tarfon said, “You are not obligated to finish the work, but neither are you free to desist from it.” We do not think that this work will be easy. We are honest in acknowledging that this work has no clear path laid out for it and is ever-changing. We are reminded by our state’s motto: Forward. There is no other way. Baruch HaShem, we look toward to the work moving forward.
The Chronicle publishes a variety of opinion articles, including this one, which are not necessarily representative of the views of this newspaper or its publisher.
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Free at last
With the release of 20 living hostages from Gaza last month, accompanied by at least a temporary ceasefire, several local people are offering their thoughts at this moment in history. See articles throughout this edition.
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